Be cool

This happens every once in a while - you can run into people with surprising frequency in NYC. Opposite platforms of a subway station is a terrible place to have a conversation, though ... you just yell and say WHAT? a lot and then you check your phone and pretend like you don't know each other. Be cool bro ... be cool.

We just received the new batch of Catmera charms! They'll be up next week.

Any good bike maintenance websites out there? I think I need to replace my brake pads, thems is all squeaky.

That's quiet surprising considering the size of the city, but then cool people attract cool people so it's bound to happen. You should try playing charades from across the platforms, that would be fun.

I ask them to speak up when we're outside and they get mad or carry on speaking softly and assuming I can hear them..
then when I speak up they ask why I'm 'speaking in that tone' or something.. well I can't raise my volume very well anymore so they just ignore me.

If the brakes are squeak/squealing, check first for wear on the pads (the easy thing it can be), and then check to see if they're leaving dark rub marks on your rims: the wheels may be going out of true, and unbalanced wheels make everything go funny. bikewebsite.com has a thorough, if graphically unfortunate, repair and upkeep guide.

I have a bike that likes doign the same.. we checked re-checked and even unscrewed the damned brakes.. they were perfectly fine and even oil did nothing.. so its taken a liking to whining at me.. or.. its just fussy. wish i could ride it now since the tired decided to like.. die ><;

Actually oiling your brakes is about the worst thing you can do. It will just make the pads slide along the rim and won't give you any braking power. Also, oil isn't particularly good for the rubber in the pads. If your brakes are squeaky, it usually means the brake pads have been worn (or they're brand new and not worn in at all), or the pads aren't aligned to the rim correctly.

There are a few ways to quick fix the pads... one method is to take rough sandpaper (even emery paper) and scrape the side of the brake pad that grips the rim until it is rough. Another trick I learned from working at a bike shop was that sometimes flipping the brakes helps; take the left pad and switch it with the right pad.

The most probable cause of squeaking is actually that the rim and pad aren't aligned. Aligning brakes yourself is doable, but can take a little bit of fiddling and time. It may be best to just take it to a bike shop, or to someone who has some experience working on bikes. Aside from the issues I mentioned, the pads may just be too old or damaged, and you would just need to get new pads

You get this kind of stuff at the Supermarket, those awkward moments where you meet your friends in public.

You don't hang out and go food shopping together, you go off on your own little ways. But you'll keep occasionally bump into each other, and you have to pretend you're more interested in the food you're buying than your buddy. And you linger around the store in awkwardness.

I second this. Sign language is an amazing superpower to have! Especially communicating over train platforms or through windows or to other cars or in loud clubs or almost any other situation where you can see the person but not hear them. Yuko went to high school with one of my deaf colleagues, Paul Guo (his comic here: http://san.paulguo.com/) . I am also deaf. I noticed his comic drawing style of me and my friends was somewhat similar to Yuko's and pointed this out to him, which is how I found out he went to HS with Yuko. Pretty cool, it's a small world after all! Oh yea. American Sign Language (ASL). Learn it and you shall be invincible!!!

First off, I love the comic. The art style and the stories you tell with it mesh together perfectly. I've read the archives...twice? Yeah, that sounds about right, let's go with it. My favorite stories by far are Death and Cecilia, those two crazy kids.

Second, semaphore is surprisingly easy to pick up. I learned it in about a week from someone who barely knew more than me. You just have to, you know, stick with it, or all memory of it is erased...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurythmy includes a sign-alphabet made with your entire arms. (A is raising your arms into a V shape, B is hugging an invisible person, etc.) I learned it in school, and it's come in useful exactly one time: When mountain climbing, my group was able to talk with another group while standing on two neighboring mountaintops.

It'd probably be more useful if people in general had even heard of it, but.